


One of Us

by teddiehtet



Category: IDOLiSH7 (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Eventual Romance, Gen, M/M, Mentions of Blood, Yokai AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-24
Updated: 2019-07-24
Packaged: 2020-07-17 23:28:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19964989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teddiehtet/pseuds/teddiehtet
Summary: When some of the worst memories you have are related to yokai, there’s no question that one would grow up with a great dislike, or even hate, towards these creatures.After witnessing his uncle’s murder at the hands of a Tsurara Onna (icicle woman), a seed of hatred was inevitably sowed in Sougo’s heart. Thus, at a young age, he left his family to join the special forces of the human military, receiving training to not only fight against humans but supernatural creatures as well. Starting once more in a completely new community, Sougo decided to throw away part of his identity, and forced himself to hide his own strange ability of creating ice from thin air.





	One of Us

_“U-Uncle?”_

_10 year old Sougo Osaka stumbled and landed on his behind as he looked on in horror. His uncle stood a few feet away, icicles protruding from his chest. A woman, pale as a sheet, wearing a snow white kimono faced him. One of her arms was outstretched, as if she formed the icicles out of the cold winter air and shot them forward to impale his uncle._

_Sougo felt like he had just been punched in the gut. He thought he was the only one… the only one with that ability..._

_Sougo’s uncle coughed, bright red blood splattering on the ground, and collapsed on the ground. Young Sougo gasped, his small hand reaching out helplessly. He was so fixated on his uncle as well as the blood pooling around him, that he almost forgot about the strange woman. With calm and painfully slow steps, the woman stepped into the spreading pool of blood and started walking past Sougo’s uncle, making her way towards Sougo himself._

_With all the strength he had, Sougo’s uncle reached up and grabbed the hem of the woman’s kimono, stopping her advance._

_“Sou...go...r-ru...n…”_

_Vision blurred by tears, Sougo willed himself to move. He was young, but he knew that this was a life or death situation, not only for him, but for his uncle as well. The young boy scrambled to get on his hands and knees, first crawling away as fast as possible, then picking up speed to stand and actually run._

_Sougo crudely wiped away his tears with the long sleeve of his kimono as he sprinted to find his father._

_“Father! Father!!”_

_Sougo’s yells echoed across the hallway of his family’s estate._

.

.

.

“...saka-san? Osaka-san.” 

With a loud gasp, Sougo’s eyes flew open once he felt the grasp of a warm hand on his shoulder. With lightning speed, he sat up, his sweat soaked hair swaying slightly from the force. The young man, still hyperventilating, turned his head and found himself face to face with one of his co-workers. 

“Osaka-san, please calm down. You are safe,” the black haired man commented. “You were about to miss breakfast, which is very unlike you. So, I came to check on you.” 

“Oh,” Sougo sighed. “Thank you, Iori-kun. I appreciate it.”

“How are you feeling now?” Iori asked, his brows slightly furrowed in concern. “You seemed very distressed in your sleep.”

Sougo pressed his palm over his pounding heart. “I think I feel a little calmer now. I’ll get ready and come out to breakfast.” 

Iori nodded. “I’ll tell the kitchen staff that you’ll be there shortly.” Iori then excused himself and exited Sougo’s room, sliding the door closed behind him. 

With an exasperated sigh, Sougo flopped back down on his back. _“It’s been so long since that incident. I haven’t had nightmares about it for quite a while too.”_ Closing his eyes, he brought his hand up to his forehead and dragged his fingers down his face. _“We haven’t had many reports of malicious yokai sightings recently either. Hopefully this isn’t some kind of bad omen.”_

Sougo pushed himself back up and raised his arms above his head in a satisfying stretch. He glanced out his window, noticing the almost barren trees and fallen brown leaves scattered across the ground. The end of fall was fast approaching and Sougo already felt slightly more attentive than he did during the rest of the year. He proceeded to walk over to his dresser and get a change of clothes as well as wash up outside so that he can continue over to breakfast. 

* * *

“Ah, there he is!” 

Sougo was greeted and waved at by another one of his co-workers- a man with green hair and a pair of glasses perched on the bridge of his nose. Him and a couple of other friends were sitting together, cups of tea set out in front of them. 

“Yamato-san, Iori-kun, Nagi-kun, good morning,” Sougo greeted as he sat on an open seat. 

“Mornin’ Sou,” Yamato replied. “It’s rare to see you late for breakfast.” 

“Ah, I apologize.” Sougo gave a slight bow of his head. “There was no need to wait for me. If you all have tasks to do--” 

“No worries, Sougo!” Nagi interrupted cheerfully. “We don’t have any current tasks to do right away. We’ll keep you company!” 

“Thank you all,” Sougo chuckled. 

“Ah, by the way, Ichi said it looked like you were having nightmares?” Yamato asked.

“Oh, it’s...okay, Yamato-san,” Sougo reassured. “I’m feeling better now, so there’s no need for concern.” 

“Sougo, we’ve been working as a group for years!” Nagi exclaimed “You know you can tell us anything that’s bothering you.” 

Sougo’s shoulders slumped as a relieved smile tugged at his lips. “I know. It’s just… it’s something that happened a long time ago.” 

“If it’s something you would rather not say, that’s fine too. You’re not obligated to share, Osaka-san,” Iori reminded.

“It’s okay, Iori-kun. It’s just something related to my past and my family. I think you all know quite a bit about my family already, but this topic isn’t really something to be discussed during breakfast…” 

“That’s okay! If you ever need to get things off your chest, you know where to find us,” Nagi reminded. 

Sougo nodded in response. The group fell into another topic of conversation as Sougo’s stood up to collect his breakfast. When he sat back down, the mood had shifted to a much more lighthearted one, with Nagi narrating his most recent travels and Yamato retelling some shenanigans that him and another member of their group, Gaku, got into; a perfect, fun conversation during breakfast. 

Sougo, at first, listened to his friends’ stories attentively as he chewed on his food. After a while, his thoughts started straying to his nightmare again. Maybe it was a sign; a sign that he would encounter the Tsurara Onna that murdered his uncle sometime soon. He could never know for sure. His uncle’s death was the first and only time he ever saw that woman, but he swore he would find her again, and end her life with his own hands. For the moment however, Sougo hoped that he wouldn’t have to suffer from any more nightmares. 

Contrary to his wish, the night brought more dreams… or rather, a memory of a sweet, innocent friendship as well as the harsh reminder of how that friendship was not meant to be. 

.

.

.

_“Sou-chan, Sou-chan! Over here!”_

_Laughing in delight, 9 year old Sougo ran over to one of his closest friends, who was waving to get Sougo’s attention. Once Sougo reached his friend, he bent over and rested his hands on his knees, slightly out of breath, but recovered quite quickly._

_“I’m sorry, it took more time than I thought it would to convince my uncle to let me go alone. Have you been waiting long?” Sougo apologetically questioned._

_“That's ok! I wasn’t waiting too long,” the other boy answered. “Is your family doing ok?”_

_“Yes, thank you for asking!” Sougo happily replied. “My uncle is worried that I went out by myself, but I know this area really well! I told him he could trust me.”_

_“Sou-chan’s really young but you know your stuff!”_

_“You’re as young as I am!”_

_“Mmm, I think in human years, I’d be older though,” the other boy replied cheekily. “Anyway, how are you feeling about your ability?”_

_“I think I’m getting a better hang of it,” Sougo answered. “It doesn’t go out of control randomly anymore. I wonder if it’s because it’s the start of spring right now. It’s something I noticed, but it gets a little easier to control when it’s not winter.”_

_“We did meet last winter, didn’t we?” the other boy recalled. “You really couldn’t control what anything back then.”_

_A nervous laugh slipped from Sougo’s lips as he nodded slowly. “Ah, that’s… true. I was really freaked out. I’m glad that I met you, Riku-kun, and Mitsuki-kun!”_

_“And I’m happy we became friends too!” the boy continued. “Do you think you can make... something right now if you try?”_

_Agreeing to try, Sougo held out his hand, palm facing upright. He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. After exhaling, he started to concentrate on forming a small icicle on his palm. He could feel swirls of cold air travelling down the length of his arm and gathering on the center of his palm. Once he opened his eyes, he was greeted, first, by the sight of his very excited friend staring, starry eyed, at Sougo’s palm, and second, by the small little spike of ice resting in his palm._

_“That’s so cool, Sou-chan! You made something!”_

_“I made something,” Sougo echoed, still slightly dizzy from both the excitement and using his ability. “Ah, it’s thanks to your help, and Riku-kun’s, and Mitsuki-kun’s. You three are the best…!”_

_“We’ll always help! After all, we’re friends aren’t we?” The boy holding the mirror asked with a bright smile._

_Sougo nodded enthusiastically, an equally honest smile painted across his lips. “Definitely! We’re friends forever, Tamaki-kun!”_

* * *

_“... So you were one of the yokai terrorizing the citizens of this town?”_

_Sougo could recognize the yokai in front of him anywhere. Slightly long, messy light blue hair framed the yokai’s unexpressive face, yet his piercing blue eyes gave away a storm of emotions. A long, elegant white and turquoise haori-like cloak enveloped his body from head to toe. The most defining object however, was the large, round mirror that the yokai had tucked between his hand and hip. Sougo knew what type of yokai he was facing. Thus, he had his sword drawn, ready to engage in combat, in case the yokai in front of him attacked._

_Other than the two of them, 17 year old Sougo, now with more heightened senses, made sure that there were no other enemies surrounding him. Apart from the sea of stars sprinkling light across the night sky, the surroundings were much too dark to be able to navigate around with human eyesight._

_“...You really did throw us aside,” the yokai calmly stated in a low, cold voice._

_“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Sougo sharply replied in an equally hostile tone._

_“To think that our friendship meant so little to you,” the yokai continued, a low growl accompanying his statement. “I guess in the end, you went with those humans. You know their goal is to hunt us all down.”_

_“We_ **_only_ ** _engage in battle when yokai are harming people,” Sougo retaliated. “And we have received reports of your kind terrorizing this area. Naturally we would travel out to investigate and eliminate any threats we see.”_

_The yokai looked on, unimpressed. “... **My** kind? Have you forgotten that you yourself are--” _

_“I haven’t,” Sougo sharply interrupted. “No matter how much I despise it, I_ **_know_ ** _this is a part of me I can’t get rid of.”_

_“...You really have changed,” the yokai commented. “8 years… For 8 years, we had_ **_no_ ** _idea where you were. For 8 years, we thought you were kidnapped, or even dead. We thought you were sent off somewhere against your will.” The yokai scoffed. “Turns out you were training to fight us all along.”_

_“Don’t you dare twist this story,” Sougo growled. “You yokai are a menace. Not only do you kill people in cold blood but you also deceive us.”_

_“Deceiving?” the yokai snickered. “You’re one to talk. Do those humans even know that you’re part yokai yourself?”_

_The question was like a stab in the heart. “...I don’t have to answer you.”_

_“So they don’t,” the yokai snickered. “Hiding your powers and heritage like that… isn’t that the same thing as deceit?”_

_Irritated, Sougo pressed his lips together and narrowed his eyes. “Hiding the part of me that may cause harm to the people I care about is not a horrible thing.”_

_“People you care about? What were we? We were your friends when you had none. We were there for you when you confided in us about not being able to fully control your powers--”_

_“And then I see you luring people and trapping them in your mirror!” Sougo interrupted violently. “I wanted to see you guys… I wanted to see my friends! After… after what happened, I wanted to see my friends, but what did I get instead? I saw you using your abilities to trap innocent humans. I saw the other two injure humans!”_

_“Hah?! So you chose to run away to humans who actually hate us?”_

_“I’ve seen enough killing done by yokai. I don’t want to see more again.”_

_“... I always thought that I wanted to meet you again. But now, you’re not the same person I know. I guess we’re not ‘friends forever’ after all, huh,_ ** _Sou-chan_ ** _?”_

_“You have no right to call me that anymore.” Sougo pointed his sword at the yokai. “Because we were once friends, I won’t fight you tonight. However, consider this a warning. If we get more reports, we will not hesitate to hunt all of you down.”_

_An amused grin spread across the yokai’s face. “Are you sure it’s not the other way around?”_

_Sougo tightened the grip on his sword, prepared to attack if needed. He noticed how the mirror shone in the moonlight, a sign that its owner was definitely using his abilities. Before he knew it, shrouds of mist had enveloped his surroundings. With a calm demeanor, he attempted to listen to any sounds that would give away his enemy’s movements. To his surprise, the yokai’s voice sounded fainter and fainter, as if he was retreating._

_“Like you said, we were once friends. So I won’t fight needlessly either. Good bye, Sou-chan.”_

.

.

.

The slightly shrill sound of chirping birds woke Sougo. The man laid on his futon with eyes wide open as he recalled the contents of his dream. 

“It’s been three years, huh…” Sougo mumbled. After that ill-fated reunion, Sougo never encountered the Ungaikyo again, neither in real life nor in his dreams…until now. 

He worried his bottom lip and splayed his forearm across his forehead. Two nights in a row, he had been having dreams about yokai. Sougo was starting to believe that this was no coincidence. Was this because winter was approaching? Were his instincts trying to convey something? 

Perhaps this winter will be a more eventful one…

**Author's Note:**

> I really fell in love with this AU so,,, I wanted to write something for it! I was talking about this with one of my good friends (@Enkiriin) on twitter, and we decided, ‘Oooo why don’t we do a collab with this? :D” And so I ended up starting to write, and she’ll draw! ^^ For now, I have this little prologue-like chapter but I’ll be working on more too (Though I’ll most likely update slow ;;; ). I hope you guys like this so far! ^_^ I’ll see you in the next chapter! Please also look forward to my friend, Enki’s, art! ^^
> 
> Please feel free to scream with me about Idolish7 on twitter ;w; ( [ @bunnymikaaa](https://twitter.com/bunnymikaaa) )


End file.
